spotify.design, recruiting designers through content marketing

The new homepage to spotify.design

If you follow this blog or the trend of major companies using .design domain names, you know the strategic answer why: Major brands, especially tech companies, are using .design to create content marketing destinations that highlight their internal projects, goals, and culture in an effort to further bolster recruiting within the competitive fields of UX, web, and graphic design.

The newest site to crop up on our radar, spotify.design, is no different. They have a clear "Join Us!”call to action.

What’s so exciting about spotify.design is that it emerged with such a rich library of diverse content, after the domain merely redirected to the Spotify Design’s Twitter account for possibly a year or longer. The fact that the Spotify Design team was using Twitter for so long is an interesting point. Many people and projects defer on ever getting a website and are able to make a business or create community through social media. However, we know that the ability to add and curate a website means that spotify.design is a more strategic and shared endeavor. It allows for more contributors, more disparate content such as the “Events” tab, as well as the subscription to their newsletter and the invitation to apply for their open positions.

I also note that their “Join Us” tab refers to an entirely separate site, spotifyjobs.com, with a filter applied to show design-centric jobs. This is also interesting because it implies to me that the jobs site alone is not enough content and context for the design team. They want to show off what they do, who they are, and recruit like-minded teammates. The jobs site may suffice for other departments and the company as a whole, but clearly the Spotify Design team is a dynamic and collaborative bunch that deserves to be seen as a unique group within Spotify.

We're super thrilled at each new major brand that recognizes the strategic value in starting a site on .design to target designers. Of course the over two dozen name brands using .design in this way are not the typical use case. The average .design user is a freelancer or small design team. It is often a newer company in the graphic, web, or UX design space, and it is thanks to their enthusiastic adoption of .design that the brands have realized it is a place they also need to be.

indeed.design - a hiring manifesto

If there was any company that shouldn’t need help hiring, it would be Indeed, the operator of the popular job site indeed.com. They claim to be the #1 job site in the world, with 200M unique monthly visitors. We know from experience that they do a good job sending traffic and talent to open job postings.

Still, even Indeed is competing for top-talent. As we’ve documented frequently on our blog, many of the top tech companies are all competing for the same designers. So even though Facebook, Uber, Amazon and Indeed may all have very different businesses, they are interested in the same possible applicants. All of them have content marketing and recruiting sites aimed at designers on their .design name, including indeed.design.

While the site does not feature the same robust content as other .design sites, such as the video content on amazon.design, or the depth of content found on facebook.design, it is a clear design-first manifesto. A quote from  Indeed President, Chris Hyams, seems to underscore that, while the company did not start out at a design-led company, that their design-centric strategy has reoriented the business and “there is no going back.”

They go on to list out how the design team is changing and leading the company:

So while the site may be sparse they have good reason. The site basically says, “we’re busy building. Come join us.” So they are effectively able to jump into the competition against sites like facebook.design, airbnb.design and others without dedicating the same amount of content resources. They know a hiring and recruiting trend when they see one and so Indeed jumped on at the right time and in their own way. We’re excited to see the public releases of what these new design teams are working on at Indeed.

Top Tips to Ace your Digital Design Portfolio

This blog post is written by our friend Samantha Lloyd at Hover.

You’ve worked hard to establish yourself in your professional field. You are rarely spotted without your beautiful, physical portfolio full of pieces and brands you’ve created from scratch and the story behind each. You know that you could expand your reach if you could send your entire portfolio with a click of a button. It’s time to create your portfolio website so that you can show off your history of design work with ease. Hover is here with a few tips to find the perfect domain name that’ll speak to your brand and your creations.

Your domain name is the jumping off point for your entire brand. You share your domain name on your business cards, your social media profiles, and with every person you connect with professionally. When you have an interesting domain name it strikes up conversation and creates memorability. But - with so many domain options out there, which one is the best for you? It depends on what you do, but we have a couple favorites for designers.

First, you need to choose a name. It can be your brand name, your company’s name, or your personal name. It depends how you have structured your business and how you want to push your brand forth online. Many people are synonymous with their brand, whereas others like to handle their company from behind the scenes. You need to select the route that suits you best to find the perfect name for your company.

After you’ve chosen your name, you need to find an extension. It’s true that you won’t always find the domain name you originally had in mind. With domain registrations increasing each year, there are billions of names that are already taken - but also many more that are not. Using new or unique extensions gives you a better chance of scoring that exact company or brand name you wanted in a domain.

To get you started:

Do you Design in Digital?

If you design in digital - be it through Autocad, Adobe Suite, or any number of programs - it’s important to highlight the work you do. The .DESIGN domain speaks to your design capabilities across all mediums. Use the .DESIGN domain name to exhibit a digital gallery of your creations and boost your brand. Join the ranks of large companies, such as Adobe and Uber, and secure your .DESIGN domain.

Do you Design in Ink?

Those who design in ink may find themselves enthralled with the .INK domain name. Whether you put pen to paper, skin, or print, the .INK domain name is a way to grab attention and focus on what you bring to the table. There are many interesting ways to use a .INK domain to amplify your brand.

Now that you have a domain name and the perfect extension, it’s time to upload your incredible portfolio to that domain name. Build a beautiful website using a website builder or your own design skills to customize a brilliant piece of art to showcase your work. We can’t wait to see what you create.

How a .design Domain Name can Boost your Brand

This blog post is written by our friend Samantha Lloyd at Hover.

It’s easy to think that a domain name is merely a link to your website, and has no significant impact on your brand… but you know better than that! The value of a powerful and memorable domain name cannot be understated. You share your website on your print media - business cards, pamphlets, ads, and through your digital marketing efforts. When you choose a domain name that directly reflects your craft, you help elevate your company online. The .design domain name is the best option for designers to boost their brand.

See below for how a niche domain name, perfectly tailored to the designers of the world, makes a difference to your brand:

Brand Association

When you have a domain name that speaks to the type of product or service available on that website, it will better stick in user’s minds. Associate your brand with exactly what you do. Your brand is about design and should live on a home online that speaks to that.

Grow your Network

Growing a network of other designers to collaborate with or bounce ideas off of is a great idea to expand your portfolio and learn of opportunities suited to you. Let others know that you’re a designer through your domain name, which you can display prominently on business cards, print media, and on social.

Showcase your Work

When you’re focused on attracting clients, or landing that dream job, you know the importance of posting a portfolio of work online. Whether, as a designer, you’ve worked hard building a portfolio of custom typography, architecture drawings, brand work, or high fashion sketches, your work should be on exhibit to the world.

Attract an Audience

Attract your audience with a .design domain so that those searching for your type of work know exactly what to expect when they land on your website. They can view your portfolio, get in touch to work with you, and more. This domain name extension tells your potential audience they’re landing on a place dedicate to design.

Display your Rebrand

If you’re a large company, or part of one, that has gone through an overhaul of your brand, you deserve to explain the story behind that transition. Use the .design domain, like Uber has with uber.design to push your rebrand out to your customers. All brands deserve to give their design teams a place to share updates about design changes happening to the brand, website, or company overall.

The .design domain name can have a significant impact on the brand you put out to the online world. Show who you are and what you create on the perfect domain for you. Boost your brand and all that you have created on a .design domain name extension.

Want to read more? We wrote a guest blog for our .ink domain and published on Hover. Click here to check it out!